Morris tribune., 1887-01-19
VISIT TO MINERS HILL.
ONE OF THE PLACES CELEBRATED
lNThE HISTORY OF McRMONlsM.

Joe Smith and His BIble-Dictating to IN
ON Miners Hill Bringing Out tho
Book.
On returning to the village of Palmyra
we visited another hill whicl is celebrated
IN the annals of Mormon history. In
order that the reader may understand
the Significance Of this hill we must GO
back to Joe Smith and his bible. The
book, which, by the way, no one ever
saw, was said to consist of metal plates,
pierced OH one edge, and fastened to-
grther by rings which passed through the
holes. With the book was also found, or
30 pretended, huge pair of spectacles,
too large for any mortal eyes, which had
the remarkable quality of turning the
hieroglyphics on the metal plates into
plain English.
I Smiths scheme required the publica-
ton of his bible. How was he to accomp-
lish this? No one was allowed to see the
metal plates, and yet Smith could not
write q legibie hand. An accomplice was
necessary. But Smith was equal to the
occasion. He engaged one Oliver Cow
derry, school. teacher, to be his scribe,
promising him part of the proceeds Of the
book. The Smiths were then living in
little, one story log house. There were
only two rooms on the ground floor, with
a pointed garret in the roof. Across one
corner of this garret Smith had blanket
screen stretched. Behind this screen he
ensconced himself with his magic spec
tacles and his golden book (or, as Hussey
| aff1rms, his tile brick). Cowdery sat on
| the other side of the blanket and wrote
from Smiths dlctation.
ONE OF THE DUPES.
Martin Harris, a wealthy farmer, was
| induced to bear the expense of printing
the manuscript. But Harris wife was a
woman of too much good sense to be
Smiths dupe. So in the absence of her
husband she put the manuscript in the
stove and burnt it up. Here was check
| In the proceeding, and one, too, that filed
Smith with dismay. He and Harris were
morally certain that Mrs Harris had
taken the manuscript, but they did not
know 1t was burned. Smith was unable to
| reproduce the book exactly, and he feared
that the first manuscript would be pro-
duced to confound him. However, it
wasn't time to give up. He and his
friends repaired to Miners hill by night,
and there dug a sort Of cave on the east
side Of the hill. The dimensions OF this
cave were forty feet deep, sixteen feet
wide, and seven feet high. The entrance
was secured by a substantial door Of two
inch oak plank. In this dark cave Smith
set about producing a new manuscript,
Cowdery still acting rs an amanuens1s.
This copy was more securely guarded; 1t
Is that from which the Mormon bible was
printed In 1929.
Miners hill is about two and half
miles south of Palmyra. In appearance
1t is similar to Mormon hill, and like 1t
runs off to the south in ridge. In the
days OF Smith it was heavily wooded.
When we visited the hill the timber had
been cut down, and the whole was
slashing filed with stumps briers and
burrs We had little difficulty in finding
what used to be the cave. 1t is situated
Just below the brow of the hill Fifty-six
years, however, have left their ravages.
Instead Of cave we found quite depres-
sion where the earth had given way and
fallen in The door had long since disap-
peared. The door-frame, however, still
stands there, buried more than half the
way up in the earth. The frame is
roughly made, the s ides not being NOR
tised into the top, but simply secured by
three large spikes driven through each
end of the top piece We took our knife
and cut off piece of the wood Il was
as sound as when the frame was first
made Hundreds of people, we were
told, annually visit Mormon hill; but few
ever wend their way through the burrs
| and hr;ers of Miners hill